Former IMF Chief Indicted in Assault Case

NEW YORK – A prosecutor in New York says a grand jury has indicted former IMF leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn in connection with an alleged attack on a hotel maid.

The assistant district attorney did not specify the charge.

Strauss-Kahn was appearing before a judge Thursday in a bid for freedom while he awaited trial.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund arrived in the courtroom Thursday afternoon wearing a gray suit.

He turned to give a quick smile to supporters in the gallery that included a daughter and his wife, Anne Sinclair.

He has been behind bars since Saturday after he was accused of trying to rape a maid at a Manhattan hotel.

His political career in shambles and his leadership of the IMF a memory, Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived at a New York City courthouse Thursday in a new bid to get released from jail while he awaits trial on charges that he sexually abused a hotel maid.

The 62-year-old banker and diplomat has offered to post $1 million in bail money to gain his release from the city's bleak Rikers Island jail complex. He's been behind bars since his arrest Saturday.

Strauss-Kahn resigned as managing director of the International Monetary Fund late Wednesday, saying he needed to focus on clearing his name.

His lawyers have promised that, if released, he won't flee to France. They have asked that Strauss-Kahn be placed under house arrest in New York, and wear an electronic device to monitor his movements.

The defense team made a similar request on Monday that was denied, but will make additional arguments before a new judge, Supreme Court Justice Michael J. Obus, who oversees all criminal courts in Manhattan.

Scores of reporters lined up outside the courtroom door before the hearing, with still more journalists and cameras poised outside the building. State court system spokesman David Bookstaver said the media throng was one of the biggest at the courthouse since Mark David Chapman was arrested in the 1980 killing of John Lennon.

Prosecutors have opposed Strauss-Kahn's release, saying his wealth and international connections would make it easy for him to flee.

Strauss-Kahn is charged with attacking a 32-year-old housecleaner Saturday afternoon at his Manhattan hotel suite. The 32-year-old West African immigrant told police that he chased her down a hallway, forced her to perform oral sex and tried to remove her stockings.

In his resignation letter, released by the IMF executive board, Strauss-Kahn denied the allegations against him, but said he would quit to protect the institution.

The political wrangling over who will succeed Strauss-Kahn at the IMF already has begun. European officials, including Germany's chancellor, the European Commission and France's finance minister, have been arguing that his replacement should be European.

Some authorities from China and Brazil have said it is time to break Europe's traditional dominance over the position and appoint someone from a developing nation. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has asked for an "open process," without mentioning any specific candidates.

NEW YORK A prosecutor in New York says a grand jury has indicted former IMF leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn in connection with an alleged attack on a hotel maid.
The assistant district attorney did not specify the charge.
Strauss-Kahn was appearing before a judge Thursday...